This invention relates generally to an improved apparatus for loading and unloading the cargo compartment of an aircraft. An example of a cargo handling apparatus is disclosed in international patent application no. WO01/51356.
Airport handling of cargo, such as passengers' suitcases, is normally carried out using ground transport vehicles that are loaded and unloaded at the airport terminal and then taken to the apron where another vehicle carrying a flat belt conveyor is used for moving the cargo between the level of the ground transport vehicle and the aircraft cargo compartment. The flat belt conveyor vehicle is moved to the aircraft upon its arrival at the apron and sits next to the aircraft during the unloading and subsequent loading of the aircraft. The passengers' luggage is manually carried between the ground transport vehicle and the flat belt conveyor vehicle by the apron staff.
Since some arriving passengers may be in transit, some cargo must be transferred directly to another aircraft rather than to the terminal, and since cargo belonging to some of the departing passenger may require delayed loading into the cargo compartment, specialized handling of the aircraft cargo is generally required at the apron. Conventional equipment has required any such special luggage to be picked out of the flow of cargo at the apron and be stacked directly on the ground. The apron staff then manually puts these items on the flat belt conveyor vehicle or on the ground transport vehicle at a later time.
Accordingly, the same piece of cargo normally weighing 10–20 kilos may at times be lifted manually twice and it follows that the complex cargo handling procedures at the apron add another burden on the apron staff involved in the physically exhausting task of transferring the heavy suitcases between the flat belt conveyor vehicle and the ground transport vehicle.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved conveyor vehicle for conveying cargo between a level close to the ground, such as the loading level of a ground cargo transport vehicle, and the aircraft cargo compartment which not only reduces the physical load on the apron staff when transferring the cargo to the ground transport vehicle but which also provides for an easier handling of specialized cargo which must be temporarily stored before loading into the aircraft or onto the ground transport vehicle or which is awaiting pickup for loading into another aircraft.